Month: October 2012

Stressing that Gandhian way was a real, live option for ending conflicts and inequalities around the world, Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna hoped Gandhian truth and action would be embraced by all.

Presiding over a special event hosted by the Permanent Mission of India to United Nations to commemorate the International Day of Non Violence Tuesday, he also expressed the hope that leading global multilateral fora, such as the United Nations, would continue to be among its torchbearers.

A earthquake of moderate intensity measuring 5.1 on the Richter Scale shook Assam and other parts of the north-eastern region in the small hours on Wednesday, officials said.

The epicentre of the tremor, which occurred at 12.30 am, was at Rangapara in central Assam’s Sonitpur district.

The quake was also felt in neighbouring Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.

No casualty, injury or loss of property was reported so far, they said.

–PTI–

Government wants to completely end subsidy on petroleum products, Union minister Salman Khurshid on Tuesday said, cautioning that continued losses may compel it to close welfare schemes like MNREGA and NRHM.

“Hiking diesel price and putting a cap on the number of subsidised cooking gas cylinders was a compulsion for the government,” Khurshid said while replying to questions during a press conference here.

The law minister said before taking this step there was a loss of Rs 2 lakh crore, but still the government has to bear a loss of Rs 1.6 lakh crore.

Filmmakers Tabrez Noorani and Zafar Hai are bringing the story of “spy princess” Noor Inayat Khan on the big screen. The latter says it is an “international story” with an “Indian soul”.

The uncle-nephew duo of Hai and Noorani have acquired the rights of London-based Indian journalist-turned-author Shrabani Basu’s book “Spy Princess, The Life of Noor Inayat Khan” to adapt it on big screen.

While Noorani is based in Los Angeles, Hai is in Mumbai.

Armed Bodos, Bodo Liberation Tigers etc. must be disarmed and their arms must be seized by conducting house-to-house search for permanent peace in Assam. Bodoland area council which is totally based on undemocratic system should be dissolved. After that a new council should be formed by giving proportionate representation to all sections. These demands have been made by All India Majlis Tameer-e-Millat by the governments of India and Assam on the Assam issue, in a general body meeting of Majlis Tameer-e-Millat held under the chairmanship of Mr. Mohammed Abdur Raheem Qureshi president.

On a mission to change the system, Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday declared that he along with his team, is ready to plunge into politics.

“It is not a party, it is a revolution. Our politics will strengthen the revolution…Dharam Yudh has begun in the county,” he said after his team released a vision document titled ‘Swaraj ka Sankalp’. The document says it’s not a political party but a political revolution, the official name of the party will be declared on November 26.

According to Vice president Moment for Peace and Justice Saleem Alhindi delegation of MPJ was invited by Cherlapally Jail authorities at the Prisoner’s Welfare Day observed by the jail on the occasion Gandhi Jayanthi.

A delegation comprising of general secretary Khaja Moinuddin and vice president Saleem Alhindi led by president MPJ Hamed Mohammed Khan attended the programme. The programme was chaired by Andhra Pradesh High Court judge Justice Subhash Reddy. Famous film actor and former MP M Mohan Babu was the chief guest.

More than 800,000 people have viewed the “Philadelphia police brutality” video of a uniformed officer hitting a woman in the face this week.

“Internal affairs is conducting an investigation,” Philadelphia Police Department spokesman Lt. Ray Evers said.

He identified the officer on the tape as Lt. Jonathan Josey, a 19-year veteran of the force who has been hailed as a hero in the past.

The incident occurred after a parade Sunday when officers stopped a motorist at an impromptu neighbourhood celebration.

Singer Sheryl Crow has put her Hollywood Hills estate on sale.

The Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter put the house on sale for 9.6 million pounds for the gated compound, according to RealEstalker.com.

The home boasts of a remodelled and restored 1925 Spanish Revival main house with four bedrooms and an updated two-bedroom 1885 cottage, a swimming pool and a sprawling 1909 three-bedroom Craftsman, reports express.co.uk.

–IANS–

The Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC) today held a protest here against the alleged repressive attitude of the Congress Government in Andhra Pradesh towards the supporters of separate statehood demand. JAC Chairman M Kodandaram and other leaders observed silence by tying black ribbon to the mouth as a mark of protest. They condemned the police cases and other measures against the Telangana supporters, particularly in connection with the ‘Telangana March’ held on Sunday last which was marred by violence.

Naxals fired a rocket launcher at a police station in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh today, which missed the target and failed to explode, police said. The incident took place at the Golapalli police station in the Naxal-infested Sukma district. Sukma Superintendent of Police Abhishek Sandilya told PTI that the ultras tried to fire a rocket launcher at the Golapalli police station. However, since it missed the target, there was no damage as well as casualties in the incident.

Dada Pathare, an aide of Anna Hazare, has resigned from an NGO in which the veteran activist is associated. Dada Pathare tweeted this evening that he resigned from Hindu Swaraj Trust due to personal reasons. With this, two of Hazare’s close aides have resigned in the past ten days. Suresh Pathare, the personal assistant of Hazare, had resigned last week resigned from the anti- corruption crusader’s office. PTI

Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger is desperate to save his marriage with wife Maria Shriver.

He had confessed to fathering a lovechild with his housekeeper during a marriage counselling session with Shiver, following which she filed for divorce to end their 25-year marriage.

While the proceedings are on, Schwarzenegger hopes to save his marriage, reports dailymail.co.uk.

“You can call this denial, but it’s the way my mind works… I’m still in love with Maria,’ the actor said during a recent TV interview. The Hollywood action star has been promoting his tell-all book, “Total Recall”.

A Vadodara-based RTI activist on Tuesday asked the state’s BJP government to provide information about travelling expenses incurred by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and his cabinet colleagues for attending a series of conference in 2007.

Trupti Shah has sent a letter to Modi saying information about his and his Ministers’ travel-related expenses during `women empowerment sammelans’ had not been provided till date.

Bollywood diva Sridevi, who is returning to the silver screen after a gap of 15 years with “English Vinglish”, has been on a promotional spree for her comeback film but says she finds it scary.

The 49-year-old actress, who ruled the silver screen during the late 1980s and early 1990s, has made her presence felt in popular TV reality shows besides doing other appearances but the “Promotions are quite scary.

It is really difficult. Earlier it used to be just few magazines. But now there are so many things involved while releasing a film.

Well-known TV show and film producer Ekta Kapoor has made it to the list of 25 Most Powerful Women in India Business.

Kapoor, joint managing director of Balaji Telefilm, features in the list compiled by business magazine Business Today for her work in television and films.

“I am honoured to receive such a prestigious award and believe that it is an endorsement of the capabilities of women and the power of the content that the Balaji team has created in television and films,” Kapoor said in a statement.

Sridevi is overwhelmed after learning about megastar Amitabh Bachchan’s words of appreciation for her ready-to-release movie “English Vinglish” and says they boost her confidence.

In a post written on his blog srbachchan.tumblr.com, Amitabh said that he had tears in his eyes after watching “English Vinglish”, which marks the comeback of Sridevi on big screen after 15 years.

In a freak accident, a 20-year-old air hostess of private airline was killed life Tuesday after falling from a giant wheel at an amusement park near here, police said.

Abiyamag, who hailed from Nagaland, had gone to the amusement park with friends.

While riding on the giant wheel, Abiyamag was thrown off from a considerable height and she died of head injuries.

——IANS

A court in Pakistan’s restive northwest has granted bail to a brothel owner on the condition that she will spend an hour a day at a mosque for a month to repent for her sins.

Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Dost Muhammad Khan accepted the bail application of brothel owner Neelam on Monday.

The judge said Neelam must visit the Imam of Zarghuni mosque in Hayatabad area of Peshawar every day for a month. The judge also accepted the bail applications of four women who were arrested during a police raid on Neelam’s brothel last month.

Human Rights activist Prof Haragopal on Tuesday alleged that the state government was trying to defame the Telangana movement citing few violent incidents during the Telangana March.

Speaking at a media conference here, Prof Haragopal reminded that Union Home Minister Susheel Kumar Shinde himself had thanked the Telangana people for conducting the Telangana March peacefully. In spite of this, how can the police file cases against T JAC leaders, he questioned.

Condemning the police attitude towards the activists during the Telangana March, Women Joint Action Committee (JAC) on Tuesday said they were ashamed that women were subjected to harassment by the Police when a woman was the Home minister of the state.

Telangana Political Joint Action Committee leaders Vittal and Srinivas Goud have said that every separate Telangana protagonist has a right to seek the resignation of Minister for Panchayath Raj K. Jana Reddy.

The leaders participated in the ‘Mouna Deeksha’ at Bapu Ghat here today. They condemned Jana Reddy’s remarks against JAC leaders. They asked Jana Reddy as to why he did not attend the JAC meetings, even while the JAC was launched in Jana Reddy’s house.

The Art of Living Hyderabad today initiated cleaning up of Durgam Cheruvu lake at Madhapur. Volunteers gathered plastics, weeds and other debris over four hours from 7 am to 1 pm.

Despite the incessant rain, over 250 people from The Art of Living, Youth for Seva, Greater Hyderabad Adventure Club, Save Lakes and nearby societies took part in the task. Students from ICFAI University and BITS Pilani, Hyderabad also took part in the event.

Perhaps, for the first time, the Congress has given ‘clarity’ to contentious Telangana issue to all those who watched a national TV channel (NDTV). A day after the successful congregation of T-activists on the Necklace Road in the State capital under the “Telangana March” or “Sagara Haaram”, the national channel rightfully so organized an interesting debate on bifurcation of the State involving a host of pro and anti, besides neutrals during the prime time on Monday night.

Telangana Political Joint Action Committee Chairman Prof Kodandaram has said that the people of the region fighting on the streets, and the leaders lobbying at New Delhi for achieving the separate state, were both needed.